Lisa Wilkinson SLAMMED For A Very 'Awkward' Interview

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnball has endured a tougher interview on the Today show than he expected, finding himself being ‘interrogated’ by Lisa Wilkinson.

The Today show co-host was trying to get a straight answer from the PM about the precise number of asylum seeks who would be transferred to America as part of a deal for immigrants.

When he refused to give a figure, Wilkinson continued to press him for an answer.

'Thanks very much for the interrogation,' an increasingly frustrated Mr Turnbull said as it became clear Wilkinson wasn't going to let up.

Wilkinson’s approach did not attract many fans, with the Australian public taking to Twitter, 'Lisa you are so rude. You will not let our prime minister finish answering you question before you rudely interrupt him,' one viewer wrote on Today's Facebook page.

'She was so disrespectful. Interrupted him at every chance she could, aggressive in her manner and voice. Who do you think you are Lisa? He is our Prime Minister. Would you speak like that to your parents?' another wrote.

'I find it really rude that you would talk to the Prime Minister when he is answering your questions. You wouldn't do it to another guest, it's completely inappropriate to do it to him,' a third wrote.

Viewers said that her probing didn’t make her look like a ‘tough’ interviewer, it rarely` instead made her look rude and disrespectful.

'So frustrating to watch. There is a line between hard-hitting and rude,' a viewer summed up on Twitter.

Mr Turnbull claimed the reason he could not put a number on how many of the 1,600 refugees on Manus Island and Nauru would be transferred was because the U.S. had to check them.

'The Americans will assess the refugees from a security and health point of view as referred to them ... but ... a substantial number would be eligible for resettlement in United States,' he said.